Organizations tend to extremes when it comes to the presentation aspect of marketing communications. Some obsess on it to the point of overlooking other important needs—like having something compelling to present. But many others seem to believe, like the woman who went to an executive job interview in flip-flops (true story), that people will dig for the diamond beneath the rough. That sounds nice and egalitarian—substance over style and all; trouble is, it’s delusional.

Presentation is one of the key components of credibility (and thus, one of 10 factors we analyze for the Thinkshift Credibility Quotient™). Ample research with website users, for example, shows that people make snap judgments about a company’s credibility based on its site’s design and usability. Note “usability”; people often get caught up in how something looks, but that’s only one aspect of presentation. A credible communication gets all these things right:

• An aesthetic that’s appropriate for your industry and market.
• Accessible information. If I’m looking for information about sustainability, or about a particular product’s qualities, can I find it easily?
• Appropriate materials. If the communication is making sustainability claims, does it use appropriate materials? Any print collateral, for example, should use the lowest-impact materials and processes possible. This applies to packaging, too. Excess or high-impact packaging on a sustainable product undermines the product.
• Writing quality. Overall, is the communication clear? Do individual statements make sense? Was it proofread? (Yes, I do need to make this point; see “flip-flops” above.)

Sloppy presentation communicates a sloppy approach overall; strong presentation lays a foundation for trust.

It’s easy to push the maintenance part of communications work to the back burner. So many pressing things to do and so little time! You don’t keep the website quite as current as it could be. Sales has been doing fine without those backgrounders—surely they can wait a few more weeks? Ditto, refining the messaging for that new target market.

But weeks stretch into months, and soon you find that the back of the stove is so crowded you don’t know which pot to tend to first. (I’ll stop the metaphor there.) Or the competition makes a move and you find you’re not prepared to counter it. And since all the parts are connected (or should be), one small need sets off an avalanche and you’re faced with what feels like a gigantic project instead of an exciting challenge.

I see it with clients who tend to react rather than remain on the offensive. And I’m guilty of it myself. (Hence the inspiration for this post—it’s as much pep talk to self as advice.) It just doesn’t result in communications that are sustainable and well thought out. It becomes difficult to change course. And it costs you in lost opportunities.

But a little effort can go a long way. You can set aside a few hours a week (or every two) to keep your site current and make sure your collateral reflects your needs and changes in your market. Figure out if you can save time by outsourcing or delegating.

Before you know it you’ll be freed to pursue those opportunities you once had to pass up because you weren’t prepared to tackle them.

Or rather, I should say, I’ll be freed up. I feel better already!

People tend to think of website usability as a structural issue: it’s about intuitive organization, navigation labels that make sense, reasonable page lengths, natural linking. And it is about all those things. What often gets overlooked, though, is content’s relationship to usability.

In a word, it’s integral. Does the content deliver what the navigation promises? Does it cover what people are most interested in? Do top-level pages provide a clear summary of the main points in a section? Are calls to action clear and prominently placed? Is frequently sought information positioned so obviously that it practically smacks users between the eyes?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, your website isn’t as effective as it could be at engaging users, and it may even be driving them away. A few clues that content issues may be dragging down usability:

• You get frequent calls about topics you think are well explained on the site.
• Response is lacking to calls to action.
• Site statistics show that people quickly bounce from one page to the next, or off the site altogether.

These clues could indicate other problems as well, but a content evaluation is an excellent place to start investigating–especially with sites that have been around a while or are both broad and deep (as university sustainability sites tend to be).